Port of Gävle launches $83m expansion to double capacity

The expansion project, which will increase the Swedish port’s capacity to 600,000 TEU annually, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the Port of Gävle.    The Port of Gävle, the largest container port on Sweden’s East Coast, is beginning an expansion project that will double its capacity within the next two years in order to keep up with increased volumes, the port has revealed.
   Since its opening 10 years ago, Gävle has reported large volume increases in its container traffic almost annually. And in order to achieve continued growth, the port said Dec. 15 that it and container terminal operator Yilport Gävle have joined together in a joint venture worth 700 million Swedish krona (U.S. $83.6 million) to build a second dock with cranes and depth to accommodate more and larger container vessels.
   Yilport Gävle has operated the port with its own personnel, cranes, trucks and other mechanical equipment since 2014. The infrastructure is owned by Gävle Hamn AB.
   Plans are for the expanded container port to be able to handle four ships simultaneously, according to the port. The expansion, which increases the capacity to 600,000 TEU annually, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.
   “Within a 250 kilometer radius of Gävle, almost 17 million tons of steel, paper, and timber are produced every year. A lot of it is already being exported by sea, containerized and through us, and that volume will definitely grow,” Eryn Dinyovszky, general manager of Yilport Gävle parent Yilport Nordic, said of the project.
   Apart from the fact that the port will attract more export business, the Port of Gävle and Yilport also expect increased imports. Sweden’s National Food Agency is already building a laboratory for examination of imported foodstuff in connection with the expanded port.
   “With stricter requirements for more environmentally sustainable transportation solutions, we are in an optimal location,” Port of Gävle CEO Fredrik Svanbom explained. “The Port of Gävle is just two hours from Stockholm. First class road and rail connections make it beneficial for cargo owners, not only just in our region, but also in other parts of Sweden, to increase their imports through the Port of Gävle. Our extensive new investments generates a completely new environment for what I like to call the Northern Port of Stockholm.”
   The port currently contains about 170,000 square meters of storage space for logistics purposes. Another 20,000 square meters of land is available in a logistics park outside of the port gates. Also available are bulk cargo resources, as well as one of the country’s major oil and chemical terminals.